Brought to you by the color brown

I'm up to the shaping on the back of the "easy" sweater. As I read the pattern I'm sort of copying, it appears that the yoke is a combination of a raglan and a very fat saddle shoulder. Okay, I can wing that. Or that's what I tell myself as I lie in bed at night, wondering if I shouldn't do something involving graph paper and measuring tapes.

If I could find any of the dozens of measuring tapes we've owned over the years.


I'm still enjoying the pattern. I imagine myself a tiny little person, climbing hills of yarn.


Then I wonder if I'll ever be able to knit something easy without ripping and redoing. Main Line isn't for ripping and redoing, really. And I'll definitely be handwashing, because I think if I use the machine, even on the gentlest setting, it would strip the shine from the yarn. And heck, if I've ripped and reknit so much, it's sort of special to me. Kind of like knitting three sweaters at once, you know?

And I tried, I really tried. My local yarn store is closing, and I stayed out until everything was 40% off. Even then, over numerous trips, I didn't find anything I really needed. I have a spreadsheet that makes it very clear that yarn is among the "you don't need any more" items in my home.

But I'm enjoying the cotton and cotton blend kick I'm on so much, that when I saw these colors of Cascade "Sierra," I bought enough to make either a mint-chip chocolate sweater for me, plus an autumn gold sweater for Thing 4, or else some funky leaf-themed fair isle for. . . someone? with a mostly brown background. Maybe it's not just cotton. Maybe it's the color, too.


As I write that, I realize that I had the camera set on the wrong light. The colors aren't this washed out -- if I were getting that swoony over these colors, I would have a problem. Imagine them ramped up in intensity about three times.

And the weird, wintry looking light in the pictures? That would explain why the snake is cold. That's why he isn't eating. As an aside? Frozen baby mice in my freezer. Yum. Just the thought is a special one for me.

Thanks, Jen, for your warning story. I think we're going to have to invest in a bigger heater or something. Urgh. And he also can't really be held (the ball he was in is a protective reaction). Hard to explain to a reptile-mad little one, but "You can't hold your pet, honey!" He's only about 12" long, so I'm feeling a bit of concern that we keep his tiny cylindricalness warm. And it's cold for the parakeets, too. Tiny sweaters for everyone?

Hey, go on over to Cast On, and hear my friend Patricia read her essay here. She doesn't have a blog, but she's got good things to say!